"God is still here"

Well fam another week down in Los Lunas! This honestly was a tough week for me in the moment. But looking back, I see that God really was looking out for me. It blows my mind sometimes how easy it is to forget that simple truth. Last week, both of my sweet sisters sent me cute notes and jewelry. What's funny is that each of us all sent letters to each other with jewelry in it without even knowing! I guess that sister connection is just going strong. Katie sent me a necklace where she had the JJ Heller lyrics "God is still here" engraved on it. And well it turns out this week I really needed to remember that. Madi got me the sweetest little heart ring to be as a "sister ring" for all of us to wear while I'm out, which was another sweet reminder for me to think about my family and how much love and concern they have for me. Plus she ended the letter with some BEAUTIFUL tswift lyrics and Kekeli's footprints. So basically, big cry fests went on this week haha. I'm so thankful for my big sisters and all they do to look out for me and make sure I'm doing ok. We do weekly service for the FUNNIEST old ladies. I swear they're like 90. I'll try to get a pic with them tomorrow. They are hysterical. They just follow us around while we clean their house, admiring our work, saying "oh you're good," or "wow you guys are fast." Or my favorite question from Wednesday, "so have you met any interesting fellows." No Trinity, I haven't. I'm on a mission, I'm not tryna date. Hahaha, oh yeah, their names are Trinity and Betty Jo. So freaking funny. The other day they had me paint their base boards. Yeah, you read that right. And I used spray paint and those cheap little foam paint brushes you give your little kids. I was dead. They also had Hermana Babcock vacuum their artificial turf leading up to their front door. I just love it. I don't have tons of details from the week because, like I said, it felt a little rough, and now I don't remember what we did. But I can tell you we probably had some lessons, did some service, and ate some food. We had a very interesting dinner last night because the second we walked in, we could feel the tension... the couple had been fighting. It was a very awkward dinner. But something pretty cute happened. We were eating and I NEEDED salt. If you don't know this, I love salt. Like I salt everything (pizza, bread- really gluten free stuff just needs salt, WATERMELON) and this stuff needed it. Well the salt was on the way end of the table, and all of a sudden, I see Hermana Babcock pick it up and put it right next to my plate. It was so cute!! Haha the littlest things can bring you joy. She has seriously been so patient and loving and kind with me. We've gotten to a good place where we can laugh together and convos don't feel forced or awkward. This week, I felt prompted to share a quote from an excellent talk I read that was an answer to my prayers. It really brought me a lot of peace and comfort. It's called "Believing Christ" and I think its an Ensign magazine article from the 90's. But this is the part that really stuck out to me... "Spiritually there are some of us who are similarly frightened by these questions. “Am I celestial? Am I going to make it? Was I good enough today?” We’re so terrified of whether we’re going to live or die, or whether we’ve made it to the kingdom or not, that we cannot make any progress. At those times, the Savior, in a sense, throws his arms around us and says, “I’ve got you. I love you. I’m not going to let you die. Now relax and trust me.” If we can relax and trust him and believe him, as well as believe IN him, then together we can begin to learn to live the gospel. Then he says, “Okay, now begin to pay tithing. Very good. Now pay a full tithing.” And so we begin to make progress... do Latter-day Saints believe in “being saved”? If I ask my religion students that question with the right tone of voice—“Do we believe in being saved?”—I can generally get about a third of them to shake their heads and say, “Oh, no, no. Those other religions believe in that.” What a tragedy! We most certainly do believe in being saved. That’s why Jesus is called the Savior. What good is it to have a Savior if no one is saved? It’s like having a lifeguard who won’t get out of the chair. “Oops, there goes another swimmer down. Hey, try the backstroke! Oh, too bad he didn’t make it.” We have a Savior who can save us from ourselves, from what we lack, from our imperfections, from the carnal individual within us." This was so profound to me! Sometimes missionaries (with the best of intentions) get so caught up in the numbers and baptizing people right now and "man this person isn't progressing, dang it!" But we can't forget that people still have their agency. In fact, if we tried to take that away, I don't think God would be very happy with us. People have their own timelines, and who are we to say when people need to be progressing. We are just simply sharing a message, but its the Savior's job, through the spirit, to convert and purify people. People won't progress until they are ready and willing and open. It's about the one soul, meeting them where they are at, and helping them with their needs and hopes. Anyway, I hope that quote helps someone out there, because it for sure helped me. And it was a complete reminder that God is still here. Can I say I felt that even two days later? I don't know. Sadly, as humans, we just forget. No wonder the Book of Mormon says over and over again to "remember." That's why it's so important to keep studying and keep learning so God can give us those little spiritual impressions reminding us “I’ve got you. I love you. I’m not going to let you die. Now relax and trust me.” Don't forget that Jesus loves you, Sister Wallace Pics (possibly in the right order) 1. We love chalk art!! 2. My cute package from Katie!! Next week I can send a pic of the necklace 3. My rad district 4. The Rio Grande 5. I love my cutie sis and my nephew. He is getting so big!!